“The Countdown” lands Mt. Laurel child porn peddler in prison

His "game" for trapping young girls into performing sex acts in front of web cams was called "The Countdown." Now, Daniel Caplan of Mount Laurel begins counting down two to six years behind bars. And the law isn't yet done with him.

Daniel Caplan (NJ Atty. General's Office)

The 24-year-old was sentenced for his April 22 guilty plea to second-degree charges of manufacturing and distributing child pornography, according to the office of New Jersey Attorney General Christopher S. Porrino.

Caplan's maximum six-year term includes two years of parole ineligiblity. Prosecutors said that they sought eight years behind bars with three years of parole ineligibility.

He was also ordered to register as a sex offender under terms of Megan's Law, and undergo lifetime parole supervision.

Still pending are similar charges filed by the Burlington County Prosecutor's Office. Caplan was arrested May 7, about two weeks after his guilty plea to the state charges.

Game becomes trap

Caplan admitted creating at least 20 child pornography videos by enticing girls younger than 16 to take part in his question-and-answer game that invariably deteriorated into coercion to perform degrading acts on video. He met them through a chat service that allows participants to remain anonymous, authorities said.

"The Countdown" began innocuously, awarding points for answering questions such as, "What is your favorite color?," which Caplan posted anonymously using a "test box."

From there, the questions evolved into explicit demands for them to expose and fondle their intimate spots in various ways.

He also admitted distributing other child porn images through a folder in his computer that could be accessed by file-sharing software. Investigators who took apart his computer equipment said that they found more than 1,000 pornographic files, mostly videos, that had been downloaded and shared from Caplan's folder.

Also found during examination in the Regional Computer Forensic Laboratory in Hamilton were 20 videos involving 26 underage girls in sexually-explicit conduct at Caplan's request, including "highlight" reels. Caplan admitted manufacturing all 20, and distributing eight that a state investigator downloaded.

State Trooper finds the thread

Caplan's arrest was prompted by a New Jersey State Trooper's probe of peer-to-pper file sharing in a network frequnted by child porn offenders.

State Police and members of the New Jersey Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force moved in for the arrest on August 7, 2013, seizing laptop and desk PCs and other equipment.

"Caplan was every parent's worst Internet nightmare," Porrino said in prepared comments. "We're devoting significant resources to patrolling the Internet and prosecuting these cases, so we can put these predators in prison, where they can no longer exploit children."

The New Jersey Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force Tipline is 888-648-6007.